


A caring projectionist and a sick composer

by Billie_the_sleepyhead



Series: Extra stuff for Curse of Joey Drew Studios [1]
Category: Batim - Fandom, Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Crying, Fainting, Fever, Flu, M/M, Norman made him soup, Sickfic, caretaker Norman, implied emotionally distant parents, just a friend taking care of a sick friend, pre relationship by quite a bit, sammy gets sick and Norman has to take care of him, sammy straight up passes out in the first paragraph so fair warning., sick Sammy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27694217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Billie_the_sleepyhead/pseuds/Billie_the_sleepyhead
Summary: Sammy doesn’t show up for work without calling in sick, which is actually worrying to the music department, so Norman goes to check out what’s going on.
Relationships: Sammy Lawrence/Norman Polk
Series: Extra stuff for Curse of Joey Drew Studios [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025329
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	A caring projectionist and a sick composer

Sammy groaned as he woke up. His entire body was sore, he was tired. Opening his eyes he saw the early morning sun slowly creeping past his curtains and flooding his bedroom. 

He didn’t want to get out of bed that morning but he had work. With another groan he slowly and carefully sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He didn’t feel good but he couldn’t miss work, he had compositions to finish for the cartoon shorts. Sammy however couldn’t focus on that as he didn’t seem to wake up properly. He just wanted to climb back under the covers, it was so cold for some reason. Nevertheless he forced himself out of bed and towards his kitchen to try and get some sort of breakfast in him before heading to work. He felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet, one wrong step threatening to send him crashing down to the floor. He’d stopped in the bathroom for a moment, furrowing his brow and wondering why he was so pale, before continuing to the kitchen but as his vision became fuzzy he didn’t feel his knees buckle under him. 

Norman hadn’t seen Sammy anywhere in the department and he knew it wasn’t good, a specially since Joey Drew was looking for him. “He didn’t answer his phone when I tried to call him earlier.” Jack mentioned around noon. Norman knew this wasn’t normal. Sammy wasn’t the kind to miss work or ignore phone calls, a specially if it would harm his department. 

After another two failed attempts at contacting Sammy from one of the studio’s phones Norman volunteered to go check up on him. 

The walk to Sammy’s apartment was short and the weather was nice enough. As he reached the door he knocked. 

No answer. 

Furrowing his brow he tried again before reluctantly taking out the key Jack had let him borrow. He hadn’t wanted to use it but as he heard the phone on the other side of the door ring he slid the key into the lock and turned the door knob. 

The apartment was silent other than the phone which he picked up off the wall. “Jack? It’s Norman. I’m at his place yeah. I don’t see him in the main room. I’m gonna put you on hold and check the rest of the apartment.” He carefully let go of the receiver, letting it dangle by its cord. He let his eyes sweep the kitchen and living room before he began making his way towards the hall to the bedroom and bathroom. That’s when he spotted him. Sammy was laying motionless in the middle of the hallway. 

Norman carefully approached and placed a hand on Sammy which made a whine escape the blond’s throat. “Your alive, that’s good. You’re burning up… not good.” He whispered to himself before hurrying back towards the phone. 

“Jack? I found him. No yeah he’s alive but he’s passed out on the floor… fever from what I could tell… I’m gonna put him back to bed and see how I can help him out, come over after your shift.” With that he hung up and went back to Sammy. 

When picked up the blond whined and his eyes opened slightly. “Hey, you’re awake.” Norman said noticing this. 

“Norman? What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“You didn’t come in for your shift so I came to check on you. Jack let me borrow his spare key.” He carefully laid Sammy down and tucked him in. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m tired, it’s cold, I feel weak and my head’s starting to hurt.” He grumbled as he felt Norman rub the back of his hand. 

“Anything else?”

“My throat tickles.”

Norman nodded. “Ya want a home remedy my nan use to give to me and my siblings when we were sick?”

Sammy sighed. “No offence Norman but I can’t handle spice that well. Maybe just some honey ginger tea.”

“Like you make for the voice actors after a long session?” Sammy nodded. “Sure thing.” With that he gently squeezed Sammy’s hand and left the room. 

Sammy had started coughing when he came back with the tea. He waited for the fit to subdue because carefully handing the mug over. “Careful. It’s hot.”

“No shit. It’s tea. I’d be pretty mad if it was cold.” Sammy said bringing the steaming mug up to his lips. Norman didn’t want to be overbearing when it came to helping so he remained motionless even as he saw Sammy’s hands shaking. He only reached for the mug when it was handed back to him. “I’ve had enough for now. Thanks.”

“No problem… Well, I’ll let ya sleep.”

Sammy blinked in a haze as he suddenly woke up. He was cold, shivering, and his eyes were likely glassy but he felt that someone was standing in his doorframe. Surly enough as he looked over he saw Norman. He groaned and almost began sinking further into the blankets to at least try and ease his aching muscles but noticed he had something in his hands. “I just thought you might want some soup.” The taller man said carefully approaching the bedside. 

“I’m not hungry.”

“I know that. I called a doctor and he said you probably caught the flue.” As Sammy didn’t make any sign of wanting to try moving Norman placed the bowl on the nightstand and carefully wrapped his arms around his friend to lean him against the headboard. The blond felt exceedingly warm through his pyjamas and that worried Norman. “I’m gonna ask you to at least try eating. It’s chicken broth with vegetables, Jack said you enjoyed it.” 

Sammy looked down at the soup as it was brought forward, it looked good, and he knew Norman had gone through the trouble of asking Jack what would make him feel better and making it for him but that didn’t stop the fact that he didn’t know how his own body would react, would it stay down? “I… I’m just not hungry… sorry.” Guilt slipped into his voice as he averted his eyes. 

“Don’t feel bad about it. I didn’t bring much and made sure it was mainly broth so you didn’t have to chew as much, I know you’re weaker than your telling me.”

Sammy didn’t know why but he felt tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t sad, Norman hadn’t hurt his feelings, so why was he crying. “That’s… thoughtful of you.” He said. Was that why he felt like crying. 

Norman saw the tears and carefully wiped them away. “I just want ya to feel better soon.” He answered. As he noticed more tears he placed the bowl back on the nightstand and sat closer, letting Sammy lean against his chest. The shorter man held onto him with shaking, slightly sweaty, hands as he let himself cry. “It’s ok, I’m here.” He simply rubbed Sammy’s back, careful to not hurt him by being too rough.

As he felt the sobbing subdued he pulled away and helped his friend sit back up. “Done crying for now?” His tone was soft something that judging by the surprised look that accompanied the nod wasn’t too familiar to Sammy. “Do you know why you were crying?” He ran his thumb over his friend’s cheeks to wipe off the left over tears, still speaking softly. Sammy shook his head slowly. “Ok… I’ll offer you the soup again. Will you eat it?” He was reassured when Sammy nodded, crying had obviously weakened and dehydrated him further than he already was. 

Norman Stayed at Sammy’s bedside a lot in the following days. The blond’s fever had spiked suddenly during the first night and he’d been working on keeping it at a manageable level while making sure Sammy kept eating and drinking water (which was comparable to fighting with a toddler on that front) while also helping him get to the bathroom and not letting him pass out again. 

When the fever finally broke Norman was so relieved. He’s known it had happened when Sammy began complaining that he was too warm instead of thinking he was freezing. He still ran the cold compress on Sammy’s forehead to cool him down but now it was met with appreciation, Sammy would lean into the contact with it. 

“You’re doing good Sam. You’re almost done with this.” 

Sammy smiled weakly at the praise. He still had to regain his strength but the worst of his ailment was over. “Thank you, for taking care of me.”

Norman looked down at him before smiling softly. “It’s no problem. Try and sleep some more, it’ll do you good.” 

The blond didn’t have to be asked twice as he let his eyes shut with a sigh. He was safe with Norman, he didn’t have to worry about anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago when I couldn’t sleep so I didn’t really do much research on things but it happens after Henry’s already gone so mid 30’s can be inferred.


End file.
